Infrastructures exist to provide Internet video from various service providers or services. For example, the Sony Bravia® Internet Link (“BIVL”) technology from Sony Corporation provides a hardware device which when coupled to a broadband Internet connection allows access to Internet video services through a management server infrastructure. Such infrastructures deliver recorded audiovisual media content such as video, audio, and image files.
Streaming refers to a delivery of media content in a constant fashion, from a transmission at a source to a reception and presentation at a receiver. For example, Internet delivery of digital content presentations to network computers is commonly streamed, as is Internet television content.
With the proliferation of Internet video connected devices, it is common to have several devices playing back the same program, either pre-recorded or live. For example, in a home, the viewer may have two devices in separate rooms, such that the viewer can travel from room-to-room while watching the program. Such is even more common in a sports bar, where many TVs may be streaming the same sporting event. While useful for allowing many viewers to watch the event, such situations commonly experience synchronization problems due to network lag, the source of the signal, and even the model of playback device, e.g., type of IPTV. The problem is accentuated in such situations because viewers will hear a first audio signal from one device and then hear echoes from others. For traditional network media playback, even more serious timing issues may ensue as each playback is started by a device independent of any other playback of the content.
In one prior art attempt to remedy this situation, some recent devices have included in an “advanced mode” menu the capability to allow the user to manually specify the timing to compensate for lag. Such has a disadvantage that most users have no way of measuring lag, which is commonly measured in milliseconds, and so will end up setting the value by trial and error, if such is attempted at all.